Ship hulls and other large surfaces are traditionally painted manually using power spray guns and involving for example scaffolding and over-spray protection during a relatively inefficient coating process. Such surfaces are also treated for removal of paint therefrom, involving discharges of grit or water under high pressures from de-paint devices attached to manipulating facilities requiring use of additional labor and materials. Patent protection was heretofore provided for surface attachable guidance apparatus and method for different devices, to the exclusion of coating of vertical surfaces such as ship hulls with paint. It is therefore an important object of the present invention to provide for efficient transfer of coatings such as paint to and from surfaces such as ship hulls.